ECU softball: Pirates earn No. 7 seed, open AAC tournament with No. 6 UAB

The East Carolina softball team will see a heavy dose of UAB this week in a matchup of familiar postseason opponents.

The Pirates, coming off a series loss to the Blazers by dropping two of three at home to finish the regular season, will play UAB again at 11 a.m. on Wednesday in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament held in Wichita, Kan.

ECU (37-18, 13-14 AAC) earned the No. 7 seed and the Blazers (23-28, 14-13) picked up the sixth seed.

The Pirates are in search of their second appearance in the semifinal round of the AAC tournament. The only other time ECU reached the semifinal in the American tournament came during the 2019 season when the Pirates advanced to the conference championship, only to have weather cancel the rest of the tournament.

Emma Jackson and Morgan Johnson lead ECU with 13 home runs apiece, while the players have combined for 97 RBIs. Jackson also has 23 doubles and 74 hits for a .407 batting average.

Opponents are batting .205 against Taylor Apple, who has 106 strikeouts and a 2.54 ERA.

ECU will play UAB for a fourth straight game. The winner will play either Memphis or North Texas at 1 p.m. on Thursday in the second round.

No. 1 Florida Atlantic (41-13, 21-6) earned the top seed and a two-round bye into the semifinal round along with second-seeded Charlotte (36-16, 21-6).

North Texas (31-23, 10-7) is the No. 3 seed, Wichita State is the No. 4 seed and Tulsa is No. 5.

Rounding out the rest of the field is No. 8 South Florida, No. 9 UTSA and No. 10 Memphis.